Detective: Phone data, shell casings put 2 men at scene of Lexington murder
A Lexington Police Department detective testified Tuesday that two men were charged with murder based on cell phone data evidence, shell casings found at the scene and tips received from the community.
Detective Jody Kizis said gun database results traced one set of shell casings at the scene to a gun used by one of the suspects in a separate shooting that happened in February.
Faezon Odom, 21, and Tyrese Ingram, 20, were each charged with murder for the March 10 death of Darius Gaston-Garner.
Gaston-Garner was found suffering from a gunshot wound on the 3400 block of River Park Drive at about 12:45 p.m., police said at the time. He died after being taken to a local hospital.
Phone data showed both Ingram and Odom near the scene of the shooting at the time. Multiple tips said Odom and Ingram were the shooters.
At the scene, police found two sets of .45 caliber shell casings. One set was found in the driveway of the residence, and another set of casings was found in the street, indicating to police that two shooters were involved.
While the caliber was the same on both firearms, the firing pins were different, which helped investigators determine that two different guns were used.
Detectives traced the ballistics through the National Integrated Ballistic Network NIBIN, which is designed to take firearms evidence from different scenes, analyze specific bullet markings and make connections.
This testing showed one of the firearms used belonged to Odom.
Kizis said a cooperating individual was working with police. Kizis would not identify the individual out of fear of retaliation and denied speaking about the person’s potential involvement.
Odom was already being held in the Fayette County Detention Center on unrelated charges when he was charged April 2 with murder.
The Louisville Metro Police Department arrested Ingram on a murder warrant.
Gatson-Garner’s family declined to speak with media after the hearing.
Judge Lindsay Hughes Thurston sent the cases to a grand jury, which will determine criminal charges. Thurston also denied requests for their bonds to be reduced.
At the time Odom was charged with murder, he was inside the Fayette County Detention Center for unrelated charges of burglary, being a felon in possession of a handgun and a probation violation.
He also violated the conditions of his probation, set in 2023, for charges of felony wanton endangerment after he fired gunshots at the edge of Tates Creek’s campus.
Odom was 18 at the time of the shooting and was not a student at the school. He was charged with seven counts of wanton endangerment, unlawful possession of a weapon on school property and evidence tampering.
Odom pleaded guilty in March 2024 to seven counts of wanton endangerment and was placed on three years of supervised probation.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated identifying information about a person cooperating with police.
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 11:06 AM.
